Festival to boost CT youth

Artscape festival aims to assist disadvantaged communities

Promoting social cohesion, good citizenship and empowerment through the arts

Cape Town youth are set to get an enormous boost from this year’s highly entertaining, stimulating and diverse Youth Festival, with the much-anticipated debut production, Fietna Lekka Jy, the African Initiative Workshops and the DCAS Youth Celebration Showcase to be held from 12 to 16 June 2013 at the Artscape Theatre.

The festival forms part of the Artscape Educational Youth Development Programme designed to promote social cohesion, good citizenship and empowerment through the arts.

"The youth programme aims to contribute to social cohesion, integration and inclusion of previously disadvantaged communities and to contribute to transformation in our society. The new challenge facing our youth is the acquisition of skills, and only through learning new skills can they add value to themselves, their future careers and their communities," says Marlene le Roux, director for Audience Development and Education for Artscape.

"We would therefore like to appeal to the public to support our youth by making their bookings for these exciting events through Computicket or Artscape Dial-A-Seat on 021 421 7695."

Fietna Lekka Jy ­is a social community comedy drama in Afrikaans. It was originally written by Hein Henry Poole in 2011 and reworked in 2012. The story is set in the Boland in the 1980s and is about the true friendship of three boys who grew up in a rural farming environment where culture and politics had a huge influence on their upbringing.

These boys share similar identity crises that were ignored in the community, such as dynamics caused within family relationships and friendships that were influenced by political and social struggles of the times. The “Fietna” stories (gossip or trouble stories) still prevail in communities today.

Professional cast members involved in this sensitive drama/comedy are Hein Poole, Dean van der Ventel and Lee Roodt, and is directed by Andre Samuels. The production will be held from 13 to 16 June at the Artscape Arena and tickets are R60 per person.

In addition to Fietna Lekka Jy, Artscape will also be hosting the following activities:

African Theatre Initiative Workshops – An initiative to put African dance and drama firmly on the international stage will start with a symposium and series of workshops to be held during the Artscape Festival of Youth. Guests from Africa and from the Young People’s Theatre Movement in Europe will be invited to participate in the workshops in preparation for a Festival of African Youth Theatre and Dance to be held at Artscape in 2015. The activity will be held at the Artscape iSibaya Conference Room from 12 to 14 June. Entry is free, but space is very limited.

DACS Youth Celebration Showcase – The departments of Arts & Culture and Sport will showcase a selection of their developmental youth projects. This will include performances in the genres of choral, jazz, hip hop, contemporary African dance and indigenous music. Youth from Saldanha, Worcester and the Cape Metro will showcase their talent at this performance. The celebrations will be held at the Artscape Theatre on 16 June at R30 per person.

Artscape has scheduled most of its productions in June and July to give a platform to young people to experience the performing arts, and to express themselves through this universal medium. In South Africa, June has been earmarked as Youth Month, following the historical uprisings of 16 June 1976 in Soweto.